Followers

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Los Lobos' deluxe reissue of 'Kiko'

Los Lobos is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal album Kiko with the Aug. 21 release of Kiko 20th Anniversary Edition on CD, Kiko Live on CD, DVD and a 2-disc Blu-ray/CD set from Shout! Factory.

The Kiko 20th Anniversary Edition features bonus material, including demo versions of album tracks and live recordings, and new liner notes written by LA journalist and longtime friend of the band, Luis Torres.

Kiko Live captures a 2006 performance at House Of Blues San Diego, where the band performed the release in its entirety, during a string of shows devoted to the album. Never before released or broadcast, Kiko Live also contains interviews with the band and others involved in the making of the studio album.
 
The Los Angeles Times premiered a performance clip of “Kiko and the Lavendar Moon” from Kiko Live http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/05/los-lobos-kiko-20th-anniversary-live-video.html.
 
Released in 1992, Kiko was embraced by fans and hailed by critics as the band’s defining moment, the album that put Los Lobos back on the innovation path.

The album was produced by Mitchell Froom, who received a Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year for his work on the album, and who had previously collaborated with the band on La Bamba. Los Lobos took home an MTV Music Video Award for Breakthrough Video for “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” in 1993.

Prior to Kiko, Los Lobos had been “segregating our influences, treating them parochially,” as Steve Berlin puts it: a rockabilly tune here, a Tex-Mex there, some folk, a bit of country, an R&B tune, plenty of classic rock. This time, they decided to take all of those myriad influences out of their separate boxes, toss them into the air and let them fall where they might. “Whatever our unconscious minds’ response was to the stimuli, that was what we wanted. We let our imagination take over and didn’t try to control it.”
 
They began recording new original Hidalgo-Pérez compositions such as “Two Janes,” “Peace,” “Arizona Skies,” “Short Side of Nothing” and “Rio de Tenampa,” self-producing and following their instincts sound-wise.

Comments the band’s Cesar Rosas, “With that album we didn’t want to be tied down to all the conventional ways of recording, so we started experimenting and making up sounds.”
 
To date the band from East L.A. has recorded 18 albums, including their most recent studio album, 2010’s Tin Can Trust. They’ve won multiple Grammy Awards, and continue to tour regularly.

Born out of the desire to have a community-conscious event celebrating food, culture and music in their hometown, Los Lobos recently held the First Annual Los Lobos Cinco de Mayo Festival at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre. The festival featured performances by pre-eminent LA bands X and Mariachi El Bronx, among others, with special guests Neko Case, Alejandro Escovedo, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, and Flaco Jiménez joining Los Lobos on stage.
 
Next year Los Lobos will celebrate 40 years together; its lineup has remained uninterrupted since 1984, when Steve Berlin joined original members Louie Pérez, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, and Conrad Lozano, each of whom had been there since the beginning in 1973.
 
“This is what happens when five guys create a magical sound, then stick together for 30 years to see how far it can take them,” wrote Rolling Stone, and indeed, Los Lobos is a band that continually reboots itself and expands its scope with each passing year, while never losing sight of where they came from.
 
“There’s this thing that still happens, this musical thing,” says Pérez. “But if you took everything away, even the music, you’d still end up with four guys who were friends and hung out and grew up in the same neighborhood. And you can’t take that friendship away from us.”

Kiko 20th Anniversary Edition Track Listing
 
1. Dream In Blue
2. Wake Up Dolores
3. Angels With Dirty Faces
4. That Train Don’t Stop Here
5. Kiko And The Lavender Moon
6. Saint Behind The Glass
7. Reva’s House
8. When The Circus Comes
9. Arizona Skies
10. Short Side Of Nothing
11. Two Janes
12. Wicked Rain
13. Whiskey Trail
14. Just A Man
15. Peace
16. Rio De Tenampa
17. Whiskey Trail (studio demo version)
18. Rio De Tenampa (studio demo version)

“ Holiday House Party With Los Lobos”
Live at Capitol Studios
Aired on NPR on December 25, 1992
19. Peace (Live)
20. Arizona Skies / Borinquen Patria Mia (Live)
21. Kiko And The Lavender Moon (Live)
 
Kiko Live Track Listing for Blu-ray/CD and DVD/CD
1. Dream In Blue
2. Wake Up Dolores
3. Angels With Dirty Faces
4. That Train Don’t Stop Here
5. Kiko And The Lavender Moon
6. Saint Behind The Glass
7. Reva’s House
8. When The Circus Comes
9. Arizona Skies
10. Short Side Of Nothing
11. Two Janes
12. Wicked Rain
13. Whiskey Trail
14. Just A Man
15. Peace
16. Rio De Tenampa
 
Bonus Performances:
1. Carabina 30-30
2. Volver Volver
3. La Bamba
 
Los Lobos Tour Dates
May 26             Aptos , CA                      Santa Cruz Blues Festival
June 1               Chicago , IL                    Park West
June 2               Iowa City , IA                 Iowa Arts Festival
June 9               Fulton , TX                     Rockport Music Festival
June 14             Tucson , AZ                    Rialot
June 15             Chandler , AZ                 Wild Horse Hotel
June 16             Albuquerque , NM          Centennial Summerfest Main Stage
June 29             Las Vegas , NV               Silverton Casino
June 30             Taos , NM                      Taos Solar Music Festival
July 1               San Rafael , CA               Marin County Fair
July 5               Antwerp , Belgium           Olt Rivierenhof
July 7               Weert , Netherlands         Bospop Festival
July 8               Richmond , Surrey          Kew the Music 2012
July 13              Newport , RI                   Newport Yachting Center
July 14              Greenfield , MA              Green River Festival
July 25              Apple Valley , MN           Minnesota Zoo
August 9           Kitchener , ON               Kitchner Blues Festival
August 11         Beaverton , OR              THPRD’s Summer Celebration
 

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